Dalia Dal Ladoos / Maladdu

Wishing you all a Very Happy, Prosperous and Safe Diwali.

It's that time of the year already. Time does have the tendency to go unbelievably fast. This used to be and still is my favorite festival of all. Diwali is a time when I'm so thankful for the gift of family here and back home. Growing up in India I remember making preparations for Diwali a month in advance. People cleaning their houses and maybe getting them painted. Everybody looked forward to wearing their festive best clothes on Diwali day. Lots and lots of delicious sweets and savory snacks. Of course as kids we had fireworks  Kids and  adults would get together in the evening and light all the fireworks. It would be a beautiful display and the sky would be all lit up magnificently. It is the festival of lights so its an usual sight to see the houses have diyas lit up. Some have the diyas adorning the entrance to the house or apartments. Not to forget the beautiful Rangolis welcoming you to their house. Its a five day festival. People exchange sweets and visit family and friends. Have lots of happy and sweet memories. How my heart yearns to just magically be transferred to my beautiful and vibrant India(Mumbai) and be with my extended family this Holiday season. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Dalia dal - Roasted Gram
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup warm ghee
• 1/4 cup cashews fried in 1 tbsp ghee

Preparation: 

• Dry roast Dalia dal on medium heat for about 3-4 minutes. Grind and keep it aside. Grind the sugar so as to make it a super fine consistency. 
• Now add the ground dalia dal  , sugar, fried cashews and the warm ghee.
• Mix it well and make ladoos immediately. This makes 21 ladoos.  

Poha / Rice flakes Ladoo

These ladoos are a must try if you haven't tasted these Poha ladoos. Like me you will be mesmerized and surprised as I was myself, the foodie that I am. I was surprised as to how easy it was to make them and loved the texture and crunch . It did not feel like it was Poha. Poha being a staple in my pantry, how come it took me so long to make these little delectable delights. But as they say its "Better to be late than never ". I  had recently heard about these ladoos from my mother in law. So decided to give it a try for Ganesh Chaturthi.

Since it was a big hit at my house , I'm surely going to make them again for Diwali. If you are like me then I know you don't really need an occasion or excuse to make these. I suggest just make them whenever you feel like and see for yourself whether what I'm bragging about these ladoos is true or not. Would love to hear from you.  In my house these ladoos barely made it to the next day. My 9 year old came back from school yesterday and asked  me "Mommy can you make more of those Poha ladoos ?." That's what I'm about to make today.  

Ingredients :

• 2 cups thick Poha/Aval /flattened Rice flakes
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/4 cup warm unsalted butter/ghee
• 1/4 cup chopped almonds fried in 1 tbsp butter/ghee

* You could use regular granulated sugar- just grind it once to make it super fine. Also feel free to use any kind of nuts.

Preparation :

• Dry Roast  Poha / Rice flakes on medium heat till they change color to a beautiful golden brown.  Then take it off the heat and grind. Keep it aside. Make  sure its medium to low heat as the Poha burns very easily.
• Fry the chopped almonds in about 1 tbsp butter /ghee. Keep it aside as well.
• Now you have to just mix all the ingredients in a bowl - dry roasted Poha , fried nuts, sugar and warm butter/ghee. Shape them immediately into ladoos. Just take a little of this mix into your palms and  shape them into round ladoos. Its good to make them immediately. If the mix dries up a little, DO NOT PANIC  just add about 1 tbsp warm butter and resume. That's it. 
• This recipe yields 11 ladoos. They are so irresistibly good that I'm afraid you will have no leftovers. If you do then just store them in an air tight container and they are good for a week.     

Besan ladoos

Wishing all my readers a happy Diwali . I love this festival of lights. I have to admit though being far away from home(India) its very hard to feel the spirit of Diwali here. We still try to do the best we can as we want our kids to know our culture, our festivals and the significance of it. 

So in keeping with the festivities made besan ladoos for Diwali. For me personally Diwali is not complete without ladoos. Maybe because my mom always made these and I love them. So making these ladoos brings India(and all my childhood memories) right into my kitchen.

Ingredients:

• 1  1/2 cups besan (gram/chickpea )flour
• 1  1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 3/4 cup ghee (Clarified butter)
• 1/4 cup raisins and broken cashews (fried in ghee)
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder( freshly ground)
• crushed pistachios (optional)

Preparation:

• Heat ghee in a pan (thick bottom preferred). When the ghee is melted and you see tiny bubbles add the besan and keep roasting on a slow flame. The intention is to keep roasting till you no longer get the raw smell of besan. (takes about 15 minutes). Also it will be a little pasty in appearance and your kitchen will be filled with the aroma of the roasted besan/chickpea flour.
• Now take it to a big bowl and add the sugar, fried nuts and cardamom powder. Mix well.
• Wait for a few minutes till the mixture cools down a little just enough so that you can make them into ladoos. Take a little of the mixture into your hands and form them into small balls.
• This recipe makes 15 Besan ladoos.

* This recipe requires ground sugar. If you do not have confectioner's sugar feel free to grind regular sugar to a fine powder.